This guidance document is
advisory in nature but is
binding on an agency until
amended by such agency. A
guidance document does not
include internal procedural
documents that only affect
the internal operations of
the agency and does not
impose additional
requirements or penalties on
regulated parties or include
confidential information or
rules and regulations made
in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure
Act. If you believe that
this guidance document
imposes additional
requirements or penalties on
regulated parties, you may
request a review of the
document.

The following information is provided by NDEQ to local officials if they are considering a bypass of a wastewater treatment facility.

Your Mayor or Chairman will need to make the decision whether a bypass of your Wastewater Treatment facility is necessary. Please understand that bypass is prohibited, and the Director may take enforcement action against a permittee for bypass, unless:

There were no feasible alternatives to the bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime. This condition is not satisfied if adequate back-up equipment should have been installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgment to prevent a bypass which occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventive maintenance.

If you decide to bypass, the Department recommends that you take a sample of the discharged wastewater before it enters the stream and test the sample for Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Total Suspended Solids, pH, Ammonia and e-coli. Please notify the Department within 24 hours of starting a bypass and follow-up with a report that includes the results of your testing. In addition, we recommend that a notice of the discharge be public noticed in your local paper, at your post office and/or the stream should be posted with a notice of your discharge. The Department will evaluate if your facility took steps to mitigate the fact that a bypass has occurred.

Information to Provide When Informing NDEQ of a Bypass

When informing NDEQ of a bypass, you will need to answer the following questions:

Why is the bypass occurring?
When did the bypass begin?
What is being done to terminate the bypass?
When did or will the bypass end?
What is or was the volume (approximate) of wastewater to be bypassed?
What treatment is or was the wastewater receiving?
Provide a description of the wastewater (domestic, industrial, etc.)
How could this bypass have been prevented?
Are there alternatives to bypassing treatment?
Has or will the receiving water been monitored for adverse effects?
Have there been any adverse effects to the receiving stream? If so, what?
How will the public be notified of the occurring bypass?
Was a copy sent to NDEQ?
Were there any negative impacts of the bypass? (i.e. public reaction, aesthetics, fish kills, etc.)